Mark: The Kingdom of God

When I was younger I remember hanging out with my papaw outside while he was making food on his 55 gallon barrel that he transformed into a smoker. When it was close to being ready he would ask me if I wanted a taste. Of course I said yes. He would open the lid, reach his hand in the smoker, and pull of a small piece of meat for me to try. It was a fortaste of the amazing meal that was to come.

The kingdom of God is already/not yet. And all that we have received from him now is meant to create great anticipation for what is to come. Like my papaw’s delicious food, in Christ here and now we have already partaken of what is to come. And that fortaste is far more powerful than we realize. It does not just create anticipation, but satisfaction. It does not merely leave us waiting for the main course, but fills us with good things here and now.

Proclaiming the Gospel of God

Jesus came proclaiming the gospel of God

KJV says “the gospel of the kingdom of God”

To proclaim is to speak in such a way that it demands attention.

This is what we call modern day preaching. It includes teaching, but it is something more than teaching. It is authoritative.

The time is fulfilled

There is so much loaded into this statement.

To condense its meaning as best as I can would be to say that redemptive history and God’s mission from ages past is now coming to its pinnacle.

Christ’s ministry starting is the beginning of a new period of redemptive history that will not necessarily “change” everything, but fulfill the promises of God (2 Cor. 1:20)

The Kingdom of God is at Hand

By saying this, Christ is making reference to the fact that the kingdom is happening.

This would have been understood as a Messianic kingdom

This is the necessary statement to follow “the time is fulfilled”

Repent and believe the gospel

As John covered last week, the way the people understood the meaning of the gospel here is vitally important

And the response to good news of the kingdom of God must be nothing less than to turn from every other false way and believe and receive the truth.

This is the “already” part of the kingdom for us looking back

*App: The “already” part of the kingdom of God is important for us to know so that we can walk in the victory of the kingdom of God that is available to us RIGHT NOW.

We do have a blessed hope that awaits us at the consummation of the kingdom, but we can wrongly tread through this life in fear all for the sake of “waiting it out” until the end.

When Christ calls people to repent and believe the gospel, it is BECAUSE the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand

In other words, what Jesus does in the gospel accounts is the work of producing the very faith and repentance that he calls us to

The Kingdom of God is in the Midst Of You (Luke 17:20-21)

Christ tells them the kingdom cannot be observed

He then tells them that it is in the midst of them

And in verses 22-37 he tells his disciples some very observable ways referring to a time when they will want to see him, but wont be able to.

*App: “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you”

Where the king is, there is the kingdom

If you have repented and believed the gospel of the kingdom, then the kingdom is IN you

Wherever you go, you take it with you

What do we have to fear? The king and his kingdom are victoriously living inside of all who belong to it.

The Kingdom of God has Triumphed Over Satan (Matthew 12:22-29)

Illustration: [Tic Tok] Satan is a snake, nor arms, no feet, (disarmed and defeated)

The physical healings Christ performed revealed much deeper purposes.

It was to physically show that the kingdom of God had come upon them in a very tangible way, with spiritual authority and power over the physical world

The physical healings prove that the spiritual ones are also effective (paralyzed man)

The pharisees attributing this work to evil reveals their blindness and hardness of heart to the Holy Spirit

Christ has bound Satan (Rev 20)

App: We do not bind Satan or even have to walk in fear of his possessing us if we are in Christ.

The strong man is already bound and you are plundered goods!

We are kingdom people, and our king, in going to the cross, has driven his foot on to the serpents head.

This does not mean that we should not be watchful towards spiritual darkness, but it doesn mean that we can say with David “I will fear no evil”

The Kingdom of God is Expanding (Matthew 13:31-33)

This is right after Christ began speaking in parables, beginning with the sower

“The kingdom of heaven” is interchangeable with “the kingdom of God”

This parable describes the nature of the kingdom, or to put it better, what the kingdom must and will do.

The kingdom must expand and eventually saturate everything

App: If you repent and believe the gospel, as Christ has proclaimed, you are a part of something that is expanding and growing more than anything else ever will.

Until the consummation of the kingdom, this world will never be perfect

But we can live with optimism in this inaugural period, knowing that we are the light and the city on a hill that Christ has left to draw others out of the darkness.

And when others are drawn into the light of the city, the city grows and the light expands.

Do not walk as if you are a part of a sinking religious ship! You are a child of the king! And his kingdom is only going to grow!

The Kingdom is More Valuable Than Anything Else (Matthew 13:44-46)

These parables speak to the value of the kingdom and what it looks like fore someone to respond accordingly to its value.

There is no greater treasure than to be a part of the kingdom

App: The kingdom is worth giving up everything you own to be a part of.

The only way for you to know and believe this is for you to see the beauty of Christ for yourself

This beauty is so captivating that it has been compelling people for thousands of years to denounce everything else all for the sake of being a part of it. No income, no job, no car, no house, no lifestyle, no earthly possession comes close at all to the supreme worth of the kingdom.

If you are here today, you have stumbled upon the field where the kingdom of heaven is, it is being placed before (however inadequately), and these are the possible responses.

You can reject it and call it counterfeit like the pharisees did

You can hang around, but refuse to buy the field

Or, if you truly see the beauty of Jesus for all that he is, you will go all in

Closing (Mark 10:13-16)

How do you go all in? What does it look like for someone to “buy the field”?

It looks like childlike faith in God, that he is able to do as he promised. It looks repenting and believing the gospel. It looks like trusting that all of these kingdom benefits are ours in Christ. It looks like a miracle, and that is exactly what it is.